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Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, 58, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of war crimes including murder, torture and illegal detention, in a case tied to Kosovo's 1998-99 independence war. Prosecutors had sought a 45-year sentence for Thaci and three wartime commanders. The verdict marks a landmark ruling by the special court examining crimes committed by former Kosovo Liberation Army figures, closing a lengthy legal process that has drawn significant international attention to accountability for wartime atrocities in the Balkans.